Very silly question about a race on a track. Lol.

AsellusReborn
AsellusReborn Posts: 1,112 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Okay, this is probably going to sound very silly/stupid. Forgive me!


But I am a fairly new runner and have exactly two 5Ks under my belt. There is a 5K/10K next weekend I will be running (probably the 10K, haven't 100% decided yet - my long run was 5.1 last week but want to make sure I feel okay this week) - and it's on a track. I've actually not run on a track since high school and I can't quite figure out how this will work - the 10K and 5K run concurrently, so how do they know when we're done? How will WE know when we're done, lol? I don't yet have a GPS watch and while I can roughly guess what my time will be - I don't know that I'll be perfect.


This sounds sillier the more I stare at it, but I suppose just wanting to see what others who have done a race on a track have experienced. Thanks! :)

Replies

  • TimeWarp9
    TimeWarp9 Posts: 91
    I absolutely hate running around in constant circles - I couldn't imagine doing 6 miles on one! Also, the GPS may not be super accurate on the track because the turns and cut backs are too close together. Not much advice here, unfortunately, I guess you have to count your laps unless they have some type of tracking method...
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    I'm guessing they'll have scorers.

    WTH would you have an event on a track?
  • scorpio516
    scorpio516 Posts: 955 Member
    The 5000 m is a track event at the olympics and in college...
    It's 12.5 laps (400m laps)
    The 10,000 m is also a track event in college and the olympics. It's the longest track event.
    The 10,000 m is 25 laps.

    That;s a lot of counting!
  • AsellusReborn
    AsellusReborn Posts: 1,112 Member
    I am so glad it's not just me who thinks this is strange, lol. At least on a course you can figure it out but on a track I am just...not sure.


    25 laps. Okay, I guess I'll keep count in my head...somehow!


    Edit: Yes, it is! I guess I'll just see how it goes. The race was a whim since we're in town visiting a friend. I think it;s the first year they're doing it..
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    If it is an organised race, they will have lap counters.

    If you are wearing numbers, the officials will know which race each person is doing.
  • AsellusReborn
    AsellusReborn Posts: 1,112 Member
    If it is an organised race, they will have lap counters.

    If you are wearing numbers, the officials will know which race each person is doing.

    Good to know. Yes it is organized and chip timed, so I guess I'll just do my best and see how it goes!
  • madmickie
    madmickie Posts: 221 Member
    Good question - as even though everyone will start at the same time there's everychance that people will get lapped and therefore not be on the same lap - so lap counters will not be correct for those that have been lapped. I guess those that are lapped have to adjust what the lap counter shows.

    GPS should be accurate enough but better still use the lap facitity on it to count your laps for you - just hit every time you cross the line. Using average lap is a great way of checking your pace.

    I havent done a 10k on the track but I think i would know where i was at based on my time and pace.
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    If it is an organised race, they will have lap counters.

    If you are wearing numbers, the officials will know which race each person is doing.

    Good to know. Yes it is organized and chip timed, so I guess I'll just do my best and see how it goes!

    Ahh if it is chip-timed, that is even better. Enjoy your race and don't worry about anything else.

    Good luck!!!
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    Good question - as even though everyone will start at the same time there's everychance that people will get lapped and therefore not be on the same lap - so lap counters will not be correct for those that have been lapped. I guess those that are lapped have to adjust what the lap counter shows.

    GPS should be accurate enough but better still use the lap facitity on it to count your laps for you - just hit every time you cross the line. Using average lap is a great way of checking your pace.

    I havent done a 10k on the track but I think i would know where i was at based on my time and pace.

    No, by lap counters, I mean officials that do the lap counting.

    If you ever watch a 10,000m track race on the TV, you will notice that the athletes are shown how many laps left with the official lap counter person adjusting the "how many laps left" indicator for anybody that has been lapped.

    I just saw that the OP said it is chip-timed too, that is even better.

    Interested to know how they get on :oD
  • judisea
    judisea Posts: 7 Member
    I would imagine they are going to count laps. Assuming it's a 1/4 mile track, you are going to be running 12 and under 1/2 laps for the 5k, double that for 10. How do you feel about that?
  • drgndancer
    drgndancer Posts: 426 Member
    For an event with recreational runners, this is pretty strange. For one thing the pack is going to be *huge* it's going to really hard to figure out who is on which lap. In college/national/world class events they run heats and qualifiers, so when the final is run there aren't more than 16 or 20 runners on the track, and most of them will within a lap or two of each other. With this, you're looking at potentially hundreds of runners with times that might range from 35-40 minutes up to an hour and half or more, all on the same 400M track at the same time? It's going to be a mess.

    I'm sure you'll have fun, but I don't envy the race organizers trying to get everyone corralled and not running over each other during the race.

    ETA:
    No, by lap counters, I mean officials that do the lap counting.

    If you ever watch a 10,000m track race on the TV, you will notice that the athletes are shown how many laps left with the official lap counter person adjusting the "how many laps left" indicator for anybody that has been lapped.
    Yeah, but there's normally heats and qualifiers to keep the numbers workable for the final in events like that. This seems like a hundred people running two different distances on the same track at the same time. I really want to hear how this went.
  • AsellusReborn
    AsellusReborn Posts: 1,112 Member
    I couldn't help myself and emailed them after making this thread, because the responses were worrisome. The website isn't super clear but it's not a track like a running track - it's actually about 2 miles and then segues into a path; the 5K runners will do one lap and the 10K runners two. That makes me feel so much better. I can count to two!

    And yes, it was the volume of runners paired with the idea of laps that was worrying me. I just could not figure out how that was supposed to work when I had thought it was a ... well, a runnng track, considering it's a running event!
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    I couldn't help myself and emailed them after making this thread, because the responses were worrisome. The website isn't super clear but it's not a track like a running track - it's actually about 2 miles and then segues into a path; the 5K runners will do one lap and the 10K runners two. That makes me feel so much better. I can count to two!

    And yes, it was the volume of runners paired with the idea of laps that was worrying me. I just could not figure out how that was supposed to work when I had thought it was a ... well, a runnng track, considering it's a running event!

    Ahhh that makes much more sense now!

    Have a great race!!

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